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Starter Battery Mystery

I have never had any problem with my IMA. Had it checked recently and still rated at 98 % . My question is whats up with the small starter battery. Supposedly its incase your IMA is down, you can still start car and then charge IMA. My problem is that the starter battery has gone dead on me 5 times over the life of the car and when it is dead, everything is dead and car will not start without a jump. Is this a design flaw, is there something wrong with just my car or do I just not understand how the system works.
Scott

Starter battery mystery

I had the same problem - especially when the outdoor temp was cold. What I've learned is that our starter batteries are very small and they lose power fast, especially in the cold. I have been keeping a trickle (slow) charger on the battery and the problem seems to be solved.

When I need a battery replacement in the future, I will see if I can use a more powerful one which may solve the problem.

Bigger still not better

Thanks ecojoan,
Standard size civic battery fits in the tray just fine, but still does not solve the problem. Maybe its just not big enough.
Still dont get why it drains down the whole system though, Thanks for the input.
Scott

I have a similar problem with my 2004 HCH with 135k and MT. Four times in the past year the 12v battery has gone completely dead overnight. When the car is jump started after a few minutes to recalibrate everthing is normal unitil the next time. I suspect that something is not shutting down (possibly the radiator fan) and draining the battery. My solution was to buy one of those potable jump-start batteries and keep it in the trunk.